Growing up, my parents took our family out on all kinds of adventures. This was before RVing went out of style, when you could find a RV park near every major attraction. I have so many memories of my parents waking my brother and I up in the early morning to set out on a camping trip. I grew up going to Yosemite so I'm not sure if it's the nostalgia or if it's simply one of the most breath taking places, but my heart soars every time I am there. I am so glad Adam enjoys the outdoors as much, if not more, than I do. And we have every intention of giving our children those same great memories I have.
We started outdoor adventures pretty early with Sofia. Pre-twins we were able to go camping on a fairly regular basis. Sofia loved putting on her hiking shoes and going out onto the trail. Once the boys came along, it became much more difficult simply because the adults were outnumbered. Although we are working on getting a camper ready for family vacations, right now we only have our truck and our two person backpacking tent at our disposal. So we decided instead of trying to set up camp with three road-tired kids and an undersized tent, we'd just stay in Curry Village this time.
Staying in Yosemite you have three choices for lodging: campsites, hotels, or Curry Village (not quite camping but nothing like a hotel room). Tucked at the far edge of Yosemite Valley in the shadows of Glacier Point and Half Dome sit about 300 tent cabins, a dining pavilion and a small recreation area that make up Curry Village. I am rather conflicted on whether or not I actually like Curry Village. The tent cabins are really convenient since they are ready-to-go when you get there - you don't have to set up camp like you do with a tent. Some cabins are heated, a definite bonus in the winter, but that costs extra of course. They have gravel paths leading to each cabin and wood floors in the tent cabins so tracking dirt and mud into the tent is minimal. A big bonus with little kids. You also get a cot with a mattress so you're not sleeping on the floor. There are several dining options in Curry Village, including a buffet style cafeteria and coffee shop, and Curry Village is home to the only showers in the valley open 24-hours a day. Obviously staying at one of the hotels, this wouldn't be a problem, but for everyone else, it's where you'll end up if you want to shower.
I've stayed at Curry Village several times but each time I stay I like it a little less. It is rather expensive for what you get. I get special deals being a return guest and a Yosemite Conservatory member. I don't know that I would pay full price ($100-$140 a night) to stay in a glorified tent. The cabins are really close together, so noise can be an issue if you have inconsiderate neighbors or families with small children (sorry cabins 420 - 445). There is absolutely NO cooking allowed at your tent. No campfires. No camp stoves. You can bring food, but you can't heat it or cook it in Curry Village. (PB & Js for days!!!) which wouldn't be so bad if the dining hall was open all the time, but it's not. It's closed during the off season - like October to May - which is when we usually go to Yosemite so we can avoid the crowds. If you want to eat a hot meal at a dining facility, you have to travel to the other side of the valley to eat at the Lodge. We also found out the hard way that check-in isn't until 5pm which means if you plan on getting to the park, throwing your things in your tent, and heading out, you'll be disappointed. (oops. That was a total bust.)
Actually, this whole trip was a bust. It was still enjoyable - just nothing really went according to plan. Maybe it wasn't as much of a bust as it was just a bummer.
Because we got held up with checking-in, we weren't able to go out walking on Monday when we got there like I hoped. At first we were told our cabin wasn't ready so check back after lunch. It wasn't until our post-lunch check-in attempt we were told check in was at 5 pm. And they pretty much held right to that, not clearing our cabin for check-in until 4:55 pm. Had we known we would have just parked the car and headed out when we first got to the park at noon. Oh well. That could have been avoided if I had just paid attention to our booking confirmation. By the time we finally got settled, the kids were done for the day. It also didn't help that Jacob developed a fever that evening from what ended up being the most gnarly cold ever. But that's a different post. So now we'd be camping with sick kids. Fun!
The plan for Tuesday was to go out towards Yosemite Falls and try to get as far up the Upper Falls Trail as we could. We had no expectation of getting all the way to the top with two toddlers in packs and a four year old on foot, but we wanted to see just how far we could go. After breakfast, Sofia easily walked the Lower Yosemite Falls trail, but by the end, she was done. I'm sure she wasn't physically tired. I think she was just ready for something else. Sofia's interest in hiking has dwindled. The allure of being out on the trail has been replaced with playing games and watching videos. Boo. So although the day was still young, by the time we made it to the Upper Yosemite Falls trailhead, Adam and I had our daily fill of Sofia Whine and decided to reluctantly call it quits. Busted again. Instead we packed Thomas and Sofia into the wagon and wheeled them around the valley. They both loved sitting back and enjoying the view so this actually worked out well. I am glad we packed the wagon. This worked out much much better than bringing a stroller. Since poor Jacob wasn't feeling well, I just carried him in the Ergo so he could nap in comfort. Since Curry Village is right at the base of Glacier Point, the sun hides earlier in the day than actual sunset, so it gets pretty dark before you'd expect. We used that to our advantage on Tuesday and called it a night early. Thankfully when our kids our tired, they go down without much of a fight.
We didn't really have a plan for Wednesday going in to our trip other than knowing we wanted to stay in Yosemite most of the day. Since we didn't spend as much time out hiking on Tuesday as we'd like, I thought it might be nice to go out super early on Wednesday and try to see the sun rise. Can't say I've done that in Yosemite before. Adam was all for that idea. He wakes up super early anyway - might as well get an early start. We wanted to wake up and quickly strap the boys in the packs and head out rather silently since we had the whole neighbors in nearby tents issue. Instead of having the boys sleep in their clothes like Sofia did, we had them in their pajamas which meant come Wednesday morning they'd have to go out on the trail in their pajamas or they'd be fully awake to get changed into clothes. Which wouldn't have been so bad except Thomas has decided changing out of his pajamas is his most hated thing in the whole world and wails incessantly during the whole process. Wednesday morning comes and I can't bare to disrupt our neighbors nor the boys sleeping so quietly so we just poo poo'd the idea. In hindsight, we should have just sucked it up and made them go in their pajamas. Who the heck cares. Regardless, Jacob wasn't feeling any better and my throat was starting to tickle so we just threw in the towel and packed up and left.
Not our best trip to Yosemite by a long shot, but the weather during our stay was amazing. High 60s low 70s during the day and upper 40s at night. Couldn't ask for better. Not too cold to make waking up brutal and not too hot that hiking became uncomfortable. So we did enjoy ourselves. It's really difficult to say any trip to Yosemite would be a waste since it is so magnificently beautiful, just being there and doing nothing is wonderful. It was nice to get out of the house and do something as a family for more than a few hours, even if it was playing cards by the fire.
I guess we'll just put a do-over on our list and try again soon. Hopefully in our own camper so none of the problems we ran into this time would be an issue.
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